A great article by Victor Davis Hanson over at Pajamas media. While i’m generally a fan of his writing and more often than not in agreement with his point of view, this article – which looks at where the Obama administration is going wrong and where the real resulting danger lies for the United States -Â is probably one of the most on-target pieces he’s written, at least that I’ve ever seen.

Fissures in the Obama Totem

Oh, I know that President Obamaâ€™s approval ratings are still around 62%. But I also remember that George Bushâ€™s at the end of 2001 got even higher â€” and stayed at or above 60% through most of 2002, explaining why he increased his congressional majority in the midterm elections.

Nevertheless, I think we are beginning â€” after less than four months â€” to see fissures in Obamaâ€™s Pentelic statuary. And the cracks will widen, because in about six areas he has taken on human nature itself, age-old logic, and common sense-opponents that even a Harvard Law degree and Chicago organizing are no match for….

….Obama has somehow already used the tax last resort. That is, his figures assume taking off FICA caps, watching the states increase their own tax rates, upping the federal rate to 40%, curbing deductions, and effectively increasing the total state and federal bite to above 65% on top incomes.

Fine. But the deficits still go up, adding an aggregate $8-9 more trillion to the debt. The magnitude of borrowing is so staggering that there is almost no conceivable way that we can ever balance the budget without simply confiscating incomes in toto, or taxing our very sneezes. This will blow up in the administrationâ€™s face as well. The taxes will discourage and dishearten entrepreneurship as the spending increases unproductive sectors of the now federalized economy, as in turn a larger fossilized constituency demands ever more entitlement and more taxes for â€śthem.â€ť

I do not know what is worse, the mega-interest to come on the debt; the stifling of economic initiative and the rise of barter, off the books income, tax avoidance, or simple slowdowns; or the creation of vast new dependent classes who vote in exchange for entitlement.